Oxymoron 2

Oxymoron is a neat word. From two Greek words meaning “chaff” and “foolish” it pretty much means worthless nonsense. I wrote about oxymorons once before, but here I am again.

With the birth of our grandson only a few days ago I came upon one of those which people use. “So, your daughter had a new baby.” Well, I’m not sure how she could get an “old” baby!

Then there’s the one that news people use all the time, 4:30am in the morning. Do you have a clock that shows 4:30am in the evening?

At the hospital I saw a door with the sign, “Keep Door Closed at All Times”. Tricky to do as you head out!

Another thing that gets me is radio stations advertising themselves. Well, you’re already listening, and if you are not, you won’t hear it. What?!

Or where I work we issue swipe cards for access, except, you can’t swipe them. To make them work one has to tap them on the reader. Why don’t we call them tap cards?

Then the one has rubbed me the most for the last few days is “Ministry of the Environment”. The role is to justify the increase in mineral and oil extraction, why the country has pulled out of international forums on the environment, and to explain why the country is not meeting its international agreements on climate control by twisting statistics to argue that on paper the country is environmentally conscious, when it falls short of that by the reviews of many environmental organizations, including its own scientists who are now muzzled so they cannot publicize their findings.

And then there’s the announcements of events at “Grace Community Church”, meaning a building at a certain address. But the Church, according to the Bible, is the collection of people who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ – no address, location, affiliation or property.